1916] Martin: Pliocene of Middle and Northern California 235 



section is approximately due west. The dip varies from thirty 

 degrees at the base to fifteen degrees at the top of the section. 



Ferndale Section. — Another excellent section for study was 

 found along the Wildcat road which connects Ferndale with 

 Capetown. On the north side of Bear River Ridge, about six and 

 three-quarter miles south of Ferndale, the basal beds of the Wild- 

 cat Series were again found overlying the Mesozoic rocks, which 

 form an important part of Bear River Ridge. In the lower por- 

 tion of the section the series consist of rusty-yellow and light- 

 brown shales which closely resemble some of the shale members 

 of the Monterey Series in Contra Costa County. The shale gradu- 

 ally grades into a fine-grained sandstone still retaining the shaly 

 structure. The thickness of these lower beds can hardly be more 

 than six or seven hundred feet. No bedding planes are visible, so 

 that the attitude of the strata and the thickness can not be meas- 

 ured accurately. The overlying strata have a dip of twenty to 

 twenty-five degrees north. It is probable that these lower beds 

 have approximately the same attitude. Overlying the basal beds 

 is a gray, argillaceous, fine-grained sandstone which has a well- 

 developed shaly structure. This member is probably of consider- 

 able thickness, as it outcrops along the roadside for several 

 miles, and near the top, where the altitude was taken, the strike was 

 found to be N 75° W, with a dip of twenty degrees to the 

 north. Four and one-quarter miles south of Ferndale this mem- 

 ber grades into a light-brown sandstone, which in turn grades 

 into a massive gray sandstone. The latter is in the neighborhood 

 of fifteen hundred feet in thickness, and on account of its mas- 

 siveness is the most conspicuous member of the entire series. 

 Three distinct beds of conglomerate outcrop above the massive 

 gray sandstone, each being separated by fifty or more feet of 

 coarse sandstone. The combined thickness of the conglomerate 

 can hardly be less than two hundred feet. At the top of the 

 exposed section brown sand and gravel overlie the conglomerate, 

 which appears to dip beneath the Eel River Valley. • 



Alton Section. — A section along the west bank of the Eel River. 

 from Metropolitan to Alton, gave approximately the same results 

 as the Ferndale section. Along the south bank of Eel River, south 

 of Metropolitan, the beds consist of gray and rusty-yellow, fine- 

 grained sandstone and clay. On following Howe Creek south 

 toward its source, brown and reddish-brown shale was encount- 



